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Newark man sentenced to 3 years in prison for selling other people's identities

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Stuart Simpson, 52, of Newark, was sentenced to three years in prison today for selling the identities of 15 customers who had applied for credit at the used car dealership where he worked.
(N.J. Attorney General's Office)

TRENTON — A Newark man was sentenced today to three years in state prison for selling the identities of 15 people who had applied for credit at the used car dealership where he worked as a salesman, state authorities said.

Stuart Simpson, 52, admitted earlier this year that in September 2010, he distributed approximately 74 items of personal identifying information pertaining to the customers, including copies of driver's licenses, applications for credit and credit reports.

"Simpson brazenly disregarded this confidentiality and instead used his position as a used-car salesman to gain access to, and criminally traffic in, personal identifying information," acting state Attorney General John Hoffman said.

The scheme was uncovered when Simpson attempted to sell identities to a buyer in the parking lot of a restaurant on Route 22 in Union. The buyer, however, turned out to be an undercover detective from the state Division of Criminal Justice.

He was arrested March 24, 2011 and indicted by a state grand jury April 12 of this year.